IL6 blockade helped promote the differentiation of red blood cell precursors, leading to reduced anemia and prolonged survival in a xenograft mouse model of AML. If validated in patients, the therapeutic strategy could reduce the need for blood transfusions, but it would not target the root cause of the disease. ©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.The novel COVID-19 outbreak has affected more than 200 countries and territories as of March 2020. Given that patients with cancer are generally more vulnerable to infections, systematic analysis of diverse cohorts of patients with cancer affected by COVID-19 is needed.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/pf-06821497.html  We performed a multicenter study including 105 patients with cancer and 536 age-matched noncancer patients confirmed with COVID-19. Our results showed COVID-19 patients with cancer had higher risks in all severe outcomes. Patients with hematologic cancer, lung cancer, or with metastatic cancer (stage IV) had the highest frequency of severe events. Patients with nonmetastatic cancer experienced similar frequencies of severe conditions to those observed in patients without cancer. Patients who received surgery had higher risks of having severe events, whereas patients who underwent only radiotherapy did not demonstrate significant differences in severe events when compared with patients without cancer. These findings indicate that patients with cancer appear more vulnerable to SARS-COV-2 outbreak. SIGNIFICANCE Because this is the first large cohort study on this topic, our report will provide much-needed information that will benefit patients with cancer globally. As such, we believe it is extremely important that our study be disseminated widely to alert clinicians and patients. ©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.Adding a PD-L1 inhibitor to a standard targeted therapy for patients with untreated BRAF V600 mutation-positive advanced melanoma led to significantly improved progression-free survival, according to findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Virtual Annual Meeting Part I April 27-28, 2020. The results add to evidence that combining immune checkpoint blockade with MEK-BRAF inhibition produces more clinically meaningful survival benefits than either MEK-BRAF or immune checkpoint inhibition alone. ©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.According to results from an ongoing phase I trial, the novel immune checkpoint inhibitor COM701, which targets PVRIG, has shown early signs of efficacy, on its own and combined with nivolumab, in patients with a variety of advanced solid tumors. ©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.A 77-year-old woman presented with right flank pain radiating to the ipsilateral groin and associated nausea, consistent with renal colic. In the emergency department, a non-contrast CT scan revealed severe right-sided hydronephrosis but failed to demonstrate a calculus or ureteropelvic obstruction. The patient improved with fluids and followed up with a community urologist. Initial work-up with cystoscopy and ureteroscopy, voiding cystourethrogram and diuretic renography failed to deduce a diagnosis. At our hospital, we used a modified dynamic (supine and upright) Whitaker test in a novel fashion to diagnose nephroptosis, a rare hypermobility condition of the kidney. © BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Mixed adenocarcinoma with neuroendocrine tumour of pancreas has been reported infrequently and consists of both epithelial and neuroendocrine component. We encountered an 81-year-old male patient who presented with clinical features of painful progressive jaundice for 1 month. Contrast-enhanced CT abdomen reported a mass in the pancreatic head with dilated common bile duct and pancreatic duct. He underwent pancreatoduodenectomy and histopathological examination revealed two different tumours ductal adenocarcinoma admixed with neuroendocrine tumour of pancreas. He received adjuvant chemotherapy, and at the end of 1-year follow-up, he has no recurrence. Here, we reported this rare malignancy of pancreas for which pancreatoduodenectomy was done and diagnosed on histopathology with immunohistochemistry. © BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Major abdominal arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is a rare clinical condition defined as an abnormal communication between the aorta or iliac arteries and the inferior vena cava or the iliac or renal veins. Penetrating trauma, including iatrogenic injuries, accounts for less than 20% of these AVFs. Endovascular techniques were useful in the management of vascular lesions. The authors report the case of a patient with high-output heart failure and high-flow AVF between the left external iliac artery and the left external iliac vein manifested 17 years after a gunshot wound. Endovascular approach was satisfactorily performed with the implantation of a septal occlusion device to interrupt abnormal vascular communication and preserve artery and vein patency. There were improvement of symptoms and control images showed arteriovenous communication closure. © BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Endotipsitis is a vegetative endovascular infection of a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). There is currently no uniformly accepted diagnostic criterion, and most cases are diagnosed by clinical diagnosis of recurrent bacteraemia in patients with TIPS and no identifiable source after appropriate investigation. We present a case of 62-year-old man in whom endotipsitis was suspected clinically after emergent TIPS placement complicated by TIPS thrombosis, need for TIPS revision and recurrent bacteraemia. The diagnosis was confirmed using an Indium-111-labelled leucocyte scan (tagged white blood cell scan). This case highlights the potential risks of endotipsitis with TIPS procedures and provides insight into the utilisation of an old diagnostic tool in a new diagnostic role. © BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.